Archive for Children's Literature

Looking for summer reading recommendations? Check out the North Carolina Children's Choices book recommendations. More than 2,500 children in grades K-6 in New Hanover and Brunswick County schools read and voted on their favorite titles from more than 500 new books published in 2007. Their votes, along with those of 10,000 other children from across the United States, determined the Children's Choices for 2008.

The Children's Choices project, co-sponsored by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the Children's Book Council has been in existence since 1975. The purpose of the project is to provide a bibliography that teachers, parents and children can use to locate books that children from across the United States have chosen as their favorites. The annotated bibliography will appear in the October issue of The Reading Teacher, a journal published by IRA.

Jeanne Swafford, associate professor in the Watson School of Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, coordinated the project for the Southeast. At the end of the year, the books, valued at more than $50,000, were donated to participating schools. See the local Children's Choices at StarNewsOnline.com.

Frank Asch and his son Devin have won the first Horace Mann Upstanders Book Award, presented at Antioch University's First Annual Children's Literature Conference on June 7. They were honored for their book Mrs. Marlowe's Mice.

An "upstander" is a person who recognizes injustice and acts in a way to right the wrong. The Horace Mann Upstanders Book Award honors new children's K-6 fiction that best exemplifies the ideals of social action and in turn encourages young readers to become agents of change themselves.

For further information about the award, visit the Horace Mann Upstanders Book Award page.

Noted author Philip Pullman, author of the best-selling His Dark Materials trilogy, is leading a protest against the introduction of age guidance for children's books, according to an article by Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. Some publishers in the United Kingdom are adding a designation on book covers stating that the books are for readers aged 5+, 7+, 9+, 11+, and 13+/teen.

"I write books for whoever is interested," Pullman told The Daily Telegraph. "When I write a book I don't have an age group in mind." Other authors who have signed the online petition against age banding include Michael Rosen, the current Children's Laureate in the UK. For further information, read the full article.

More than 80 authors, illustrators, librarians, teachers, and booksellers have joined together to protest age banding. Read their online petition.

With National Ambassador of Young People's Literature Jon Scieszka as host, Al Roker of The Today Show as an honoree, and the announcement of five new children’s book awards chosen by children themselves, the Children's Choice Book Awards gala held on Tuesday, May 13, at the Times Center in New York City seemed destined for success. And indeed the event was a huge hit, drawing publishers, authors, and children to share in the celebration of the 89th Annual Children's Book Week, observed this year in May for the first time.

Scieszka celebrated the new as he introduced the event, which was organized by the Children's Book Council (CBC). "We have a new, improved CBC, a brand new Book Week, and these brand new Children's Choice Book Awards," he said. He spoke about his role as literature ambassador for 75 million children, saying, "The thing I love most about being ambassador is being the champion of the little guys."

Next came the presentation of the new Children's Choice Book Awards. More than 55,000 votes were cast, with the following winners being named from among five finalists in these categories:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year—Frankie Stein by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Kevan Atteberry, published by Marshall Cavendish
Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year—Big Cats by Elaine Landau, published by Enslow Publishers
Fifth to Sixth Grade Book of the Year—Encyclopedia Horrifica by Joshua Gee, published by Scholastic Paperbacks
Illustrator of the Year—Ian Falconer for Olivia Helps with Christmas, written by Ian Falconer and published by Simon & Schuster
Author of the Year—J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published by Scholastic

Brian Selznick, winner of the 2008 Caldecott Medal for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, presented Al Roker of The Today Show with the 2008 Impact Award for "Al's Book Club for Kids," noting that The Invention of Hugo Cabret was the first book featured on the regularly occurring segment.

Robin Adelson, executive director of CBC, closed the evening, noting that Children's Book Week is the longest running literacy promotion event in the United States. She cited the International Reading Association, noting that the nominees and prize winners for the Children's Choice Book Awards all are drawn from the Children’s Choices booklist, which has been compiled annually by a joint committee of IRA and CBC for more than 30 years, based on the votes of children.

For further information about Children's Book Week and the other activities of the Children's Book Council, visit the CBC website. For further information about the Children's Choices booklist, visit the IRA website. Watch for the annotated Children's Choices list for this year to appear in the October issue of The Reading Teacher.

A Washington Post article by Jay Mathews published on May 5 found that children are still reading classic novels. Children have welcomed the Harry Potter books in recent years like free ice cream in the cafeteria, but the largest survey ever of youthful reading in the United States revealed that none of J.K. Rowling’s phenomenally popular books has been able to dislodge the works of longtime favorites Dr. Seuss, E.B. White, Judy Blume, S.E. Hinton, and Harper Lee as the most read.

Books by the five well-known U.S. authors, plus lesser-known Laura Numeroff, Katherine Paterson, and Gary Paulsen, drew the most readers at every grade level in a study of 78.5 million books read by more than 3 million children who logged on to the Renaissance Learning Web site to take quizzes on books they read last year. Many works from Rowling’s Potter series turned up in the top 20, but other authors also ranked high and are likely to get more attention as a result. Read more about the survey in the Washington Post online.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books are being embraced as literary and academic texts in college classes on a number of campuses, reports Patrick Lee on CNN.com. Yale University, Georgetown University, Liberty University, Pepperdine University, Stanford University, Lawrence University, Swathmore, and Kansas State University all have integrated the series into their curricula. The books are often analyzed in the context of other books such as contemporary British fantasy or potential influences such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

For further information, read the full article.

Parents at a private school in Montgomery County, Maryland, recently complained when a teacher read to a group of third graders from a book containing gruesome descriptions of conditions on slave ships that brought enslaved Africans to the United States. The parents thought their children were too young for the difficult theme and graphic language, according to an article by Valerie Strauss in The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, parents at a junior high school in the District of Columbia were concerned that their children were reading books they considered too easy for advanced seventh graders. All in all, these examples and others demonstrate that picking books that are appropriate in theme and reading level is an art rather than a science.

For further information, read the full article.

If you've ever wanted to ask Beverly Cleary a question about her books, the memorable characters she has created, or her life as a writer, here's your chance. In celebration of National D.E.A.R. Day (Drop Everything and Read), Reading Rockets is collecting questions for Cleary from readers. Teachers, librarians, parents, and readers of all ages can submit their questions.

The best and most unusual questions will be selected for Cleary to answer. Come back to Reading Rockets on April 12th to hear what she has to say in a new exclusive audio interview. You have until February 29 to submit your question. If your question is selected to be answered, HarperCollins Children's Books will send you a set of Beverly Cleary titles

To learn more, visit the Reading Rockets D.E.A.R. webpage.

The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (Cybils) are designed to honor children's books based both on popularity and literary merit, providing "a middle course between the lofty Newbery Medal and the populist Quill Awards," say the organizers. On February 14, the following Cybils winners for 2007 were named:

Fantasy and Science Fiction: The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, published by Hyperion (elementary/middle grade) and Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, published by Bloomsbury (young adult)
Fiction Picture Books: The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Graphic Novels: Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano and Paolo Lamanna, published by Hyperion (elementary/middle grade) and The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar, illustrated by Emmanuel Guibert, published by First Second (young adult)
Middle Grade Novels: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, published by Harcourt Children's Books
Nonfiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books: Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Nonfiction Picture Books: Lightship by Brian Floca, published by Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
Poetry: This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, published by Houghton Mifflin
Young Adult Novels: Boy Toy by Barry Lyga, published by Houghton Mifflin

For further information and a list of short list titles in each category, visit the Cybils website.

As a child growing up in Ghana, Kwabena Darko was very poor. He received a small loan (a "microloan"), and what he did with that money changed the lives of his entire community. A new children's book, One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, written by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, and published by Kids Can Press, tells the heartwarming story.

One Hen encourages children to think about the power we each have to initiate positive changes in the world. In addition, children can play online games to experience the impact a small loan has on a virtual village. For further information, visit the One Hen.org website or the new books section of the Kids Can Press website.

The National Council of Teachers of English has announced this year's winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. The 2008 award is given to M.L.K.: Journey of a King by Tonya Bolden (Abrams).

In addition, the following Honor books were named: Black and White Airmen: Their True History by John Fleischman (Houghton Mifflin); Helen Keller: Her Life in Pictures by George Sullivan (Scholastic); Muckrakers by Ann Bausum (National Geographic); Spiders by Nic Bishop (Scholastic); and Venom by Marilyn Singer (Darby Creek).

For additional information, visit the NCTE website.

Children of the U.S.A., the 18th in an award-winning series of books published by Charlesbridge Publishing and The Global Fund for Children (GFC), reveals the diversity of American youth through portraits of 51 U.S. cities--one in each state, as well as Washington, DC.

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of Children of the U.S.A. and all Global Fund for Children books support community-based organizations funded by GFC. These organizations serve the world's most vulnerable children. For further information, visit the Global Fund for Children website.

Every year, when the entries start pouring in to The Christian Science Monitor’s Young Poets Contest, the editors are as excited as the young people who’ve entered their work. The editors thank everyone who entered, and congratulate the seven top winners chosen by poet Elizabeth Lund. One of the poems follows. Read more online.

Notebook

Two butterfly wings
White
With gentle streaks of blue
Spreading out.
Dark metal body
Glittering
In the morning sun
Let her fly
With the imprint
The memory of words
Written on the thin
Delicate white
With veins of blue
Soaring
Through the infinite space of thought
Riding the breezes
Of imagination,
Drifting
From flower
To bright-colored flower
Of budding words,
Ideas
Speckling the white
Blue-streaked wings
With dust
Of a lead pencil
Marking the paths
Of its travels

Michal Goderez
Amherst, Massachusetts
8th grade

The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the winners of the John Newbery Medal and the Randolph Caldecott Medal, along with other award winners, at its midwinter meeting in Philadelphia. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, written by Laura Amy Schlitz and published by Candlewick, won the Newbery Medal, which honors the year's most outstanding contribution to children's literature. The Invention of Hugo Cabret, illustrated by Brian Selznick and published by Scholastic, won the Caldecott Medal as the year's most distinguished American picture book for children.

For further information and a full list of winners and honor books, read the ALA press release.

Knuffle Bunny is among the finalists for a Cybils award, but Harry Potter is not. The New York Times bestseller Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems earned a spot on the short list for Fiction Picture Books at The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (Cybils), but the boy wizard did not make the cut in the Fantasy and Science Fiction category. Judges have also announced finalists for Poetry and Middle Grade Fiction. Finalists for Graphic Novels, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction Picture Books, and Non-Fiction for Middle-Grade/Young Adult Readers will be announced January 7.

Cybils began last year with kidlit bloggers hoping to steer a middle course between the lofty Newbery Medal and the populist Quill Awards. The contest drew more than 570 nominations this year, and 90 judges are participating. Winners will be announced on February 14. For further information, visit the Cybils webpage.

Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and the Time Warp Trio series, will get the imprimatur of the Library of Congress today, January 3, 2008, as the first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

“We think it’s very important to have an evangelist for reading,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. The library’s Center for the Book has teamed up with the Children’s Book Council, a publishing industry trade association, to create the national ambassador program.

The appointment comes at a time when declines in Americans’ reading proficiency and time spent reading have been widely noted—most recently in “To Read or Not to Read,” a report issued by the National Endowment for the Arts. For many reasons, including economic competitiveness, it is “a matter of crucial national importance” that young people read, Billington said. Read more in The Washington Post.

King & King, a children's book in which a prince finds true love with another prince, has drawn complaints from parents who checked it out from the Lower Macungie Library in Pennsylvania, according to an article by Kevin Amerman in The Morning Call. The library's board of directors denied a request to have the book taken out of circulation.

The Lower Macungie Library strives to provide a wide spectrum of materials, said Kathee Rhode, the library's director. "We certainly want parents to make that decision for their children--not one parent making that decision for all children."

King & King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, originally published in The Netherlands, has sparked controversy in Massachusetts and Oklahoma as well. For further information, read the full story.

Publishers Weekly has released its list of best books of the year (both children's and adult titles). Want to see if your favorite books made the list? Visit the Publishers Weekly website.

Saks Fifth Avenue has announced the launch of Snowpeople, a limited edition hardcover children's book for the holidays. Published by HarperCollins for Saks, the book will be sold at all Saks Fifth Avenue stores across the United States and online. As part of an ongoing relationship with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Saks will donate $2 from every book sold to the St. Jude 2007 Thanks and Giving Campaign.

A celebration of diversity, Snowpeople tells the story of a clan of snowpeople as they search for their individual identities. The book is written by Rick and Ryan Zeeb and illustrated by Trish Burgio. For further information, visit the Saks website and search for Snowpeople.

Young authors in grades 5-8 from throughout the United States are invited to apply for the 2nd Annual Mark Twain Young Authors Workshop, which will be held June 23-27, 2008. Winners will get to spend five days in Hannibal, Missouri, Mark Twain's hometown, to study his life and his use of real life to create fiction. They will collaborate with other young authors and with instructors to develop their writing voice. For the 2007 program, six boys and six girls won full scholarships to attend.

Applications must be submitted by January 15, 2008. For further information, visit the Mark Twain Young Authors Workshop webpage on the Stetson University website.

Disapproving of the magic and witchraft in the Harry Potter books, a Catholic pastor at a Massachusetts parochial school in Wakefield, Massachusetts, has done some magic of his own--he made the books disappear from the library of the K-8 school, according to an article by Catherine Donaldson-Evans appearing on Fox News.com. The Reverend Ron Barker of St. Joseph's School said the books are spiritually dangerous for children and could encourage them to engage in witchcraft.

Barker maintains that parents and children have every right to read the Potter series, but he suggested that they check the books out of the public library, saying they have no place in a Catholic school. For further information, read the full article.

Albus Dumbledore, beloved headmaster of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series, is gay, revealed series author J.K. Rowling on Friday. Speaking at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of her brief "Open Book Tour" of the United States, Rowling made the revelation in response to a question from a young fan, according to an AP report appearing on CNN.com. Rowling noted that she regarded the Potter books as a "prolonged argument for tolerance." For further information, read the full article.

The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) Hans Christian Andersen Award committee has chosen three titles to represent the U.S. on the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour List. Committee members chose titles published over the past two years that exemplify excellence in three categories: writing, illustration, and translation. The IBBY Honour List is a unique biennial survey of what is best in children’s literature worldwide.

The committee chose Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles (Harcourt, 2005) in the author category; Jazz (Holiday House, 2006), written by Walter Dean Myers and illustrated by Christopher Myers, in the illustration category; and Emil and Karl (Roaring Brook Press, 2006), written by Yankev Glathteyn and translated by Jeffrey Shandler, in the translation category.

Members of the 2008 USBBY Hans Christian Anderson Awards Nominating Committee are Sharon Deeds, chair, Julie Cummins, Jennifer Smith, Susan Golden, and Christina Desai. The secretariat for USBBY is housed at IRA Headquarters in Newark, Delaware. For further information about IBBY and its projects, visit the IBBY website.

Rise Up Reading! is the theme for the 88th celebration of Children's Book Week, scheduled for November 12-18, 2007. Communities and schools throughout the United States will create their own unique celebrations, including storytelling, parties, author and illustrator appearances, and other book-related events. There are also Children's Book Week materials available from the Children's Book Council, which sponsors the event, including a poster by Edward Koren and a bookmark poem by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Further information about Children's Book Week can be found at your local library or bookstore, as well as on the CBC website.

Judy Blume is back. One of the most popular children’s book writers of all time, Blume was a powerhouse of the 1970s and ’80s. She secured her place in the pantheon of greats with such books as Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge and Forever, a young-adult novel that broke new ground in sexual frankness (and secured Blume’s place as a perennial target of censors). Resting on one’s laurels might seem a good plan at this point. Instead, five months before her 70th birthday, Blume has a new chapter-book series starring her old pals, the Pain and the Great One, and she has embarked on her first national tour in 10 years. Read more about Blume’s career, and her new book, in this article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Madeline L’Engle, award-winning author of more than 60 books, including fantasies, poetry, and memoirs, died September 6 at the age of 88. L’Engle was best known for her novel A Wrinkle in Time, for which she received the Newbery Medal in 1963. Her book A Ring of Endless Light was a Newbery Honor Book in 1981. L’Engle’s 1978 book, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, earned an American Book Award. In 2004, President George W. Bush presented her with a National Humanities Award. Read about L’Engle’s life in this article from The New York Times, and read an appreciation from The Washington Post.

First lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush are writing a children’s book about a boy who doesn’t like to read. It is based on their experiences as teachers. HarperCollins plans to announce today that it will publish the as-yet-untitled picture book next spring. It will be illustrated by Denise Brunkus, who’s best known for her drawings in the popular Junie B. Jones series. Read more about the book in this article from USA Today.

Junie B. Jones is the hero of a popular Random House early reading series that has divided parents since it was introduced 15 years ago. With more than 43 million copies in print and a stage show touring the country, the series has its share of die-hard fans and is required summer reading at many elementary schools. But more than a few parents have taken issue with Junie B., as she is called. Their disagreement is a pint-size version of the lingering education battle between advocates of phonics, who believe children should be taught proper spelling and grammar from the outset, and those who favor whole language, a literacy method that accepts misspellings and other errors as long as children are engaged in reading and writing. Read more about the Junie B. debate in this article from The New York Times.

The Longest Season, by Cal Ripken Jr., for ages 6–10, tells the story of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles. Although Ripken is known for his consecutive games streak, this particular year featured another streak—21 consecutive losses at the start of the season. In Good Sports: Rhymes About Running, Jumping, Throwing and More, poet Jack Prelutsky shows that there is often more drama involved in losing than in winning. His poems also include a good dose of humor, as displayed in this verse:

I had to slide into the plate
It was my only chance.
Though if I hadn't slid, then I
Would not have lost my pants.

Read reviews of these two books in this article from Newsday.

Clyde Robert Bulla, who wrote more than 60 children's books over a span of more than 50 years, died on May 27 at the age of 93. Bulla wrote many books about historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Pocahontas, as well as stories about contemporary youngsters. For further information, read Bulla's obituary in the Los Angeles Times.

2008 Charlotte Award ballots are now available, according to the program’s sponsor, the New York State Reading Association.

Named for the main character in E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, the purpose of the Charlotte Award is to encourage students to read outstanding literature and ultimately become lifelong readers. Additionally, the award recognizes the authors and illustrators of such literature. Students in New York State will read titles on the ballot and vote for their favorites. Votes will be tallied, and winners will receive their awards at the 42nd Annual NYSRA Statewide Conference in March 2009.

Additional details, including past winners, contest guidelines, and 2008 ballots, are available at the NSRA website.

It should be said: Kevin Henkes is a genius. Not that it will be news to the many fans of his 37 books or the judges who have made him the rare author-illustrator to have received both a Caldecott Medal (the picture-book prize) and a Newbery Honor (the runner-up children’s fiction prize). And yet he isn’t quite the household name that Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak are, though he should be. Read more about Henkes in this article from The New York Times.

Ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is writing a series of children’s books for release next year. The former Ginger Spice has landed a six-book publishing deal with Macmillan to chronicle the animated adventures of Ugenia Lavender, a bold and assertive 9-year-old girl who balances everyday school life with solving mysteries and working her way out of fantastic situations. Read more about Halliwell’s new pursuit in this article from USA Today.

The publisher of the new Harry Potter novel has strict rules for libraries handling the book this summer. Among them: Libraries must limit the number of employees who handle the books before the July 21 release and provide names and contact information for each branch manager, according to the contract from Scholastic Inc. Read more about the contract that libraries must sign, which the publisher says is required to honor author J.K. Rowling’s wishes of preserving a “magical moment” for children, in this article from The Arizona Republic.

What picture shows a dramatic gold and orange sky and a teenage boy in glasses reaching upward? It’s the cover to the seventh and final Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” coming out July 21. As always, the cover was designed by illustrator Mary GrandPre, U.S. publisher Scholastic, Inc., announced Wednesday. J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series has sold more than 325 million copies worldwide. “Deathly Hallows” has an announced first printing of 12 million in the United States alone. Read the Associated Press story at delawareonline.com.

Scholastic announced that it has ordered a mammoth 12-million copy first printing for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is scheduled to go on sale July 21. To further build interest, Scholastic will launch a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign on the theme "There Will Soon Be 7" to promote the final installment in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. For further information, visit the Scholastic website.

There may be only two things about growing up that haven’t changed in the past half–century. Children get bored, and Dr. Seuss gets read. Over and over and over again. Which may be why people care that The Cat in the Hat turns 50 this year. The anniversary of the publication—it was released March 1, 1957—of Seuss’ breakthrough beginning reader book already has been celebrated in Delaware and across the country, and many more events are planned. Continue reading about the cat and what an iconic figure he has become in English–speaking countries at delawareonline.com.

Harry Potter fans worldwide are looking forward to July 21, 2007, with a mixture of anticipation and dread. Anticipation because July 21 has been set as the publication date of the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Dread because author J.K. Rowling has said that two characters will be killed off in Book 7 of the series, which has sold more than 325 million copies in 64 languages. July will be a busy month for Harry Potter fans; the fifth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is scheduled to come out on July 13.

For further information about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling, visit the author's website.

The two most prestigious awards for American children’s books went yesterday to Susan Patron, a relatively unknown author who was awarded this year’s Newbery Medal, and to David Wiesner, an illustrator who won the Caldecott Medal for the third time. Patron won for “The Higher Power of Lucky,” the story of a motherless 10-year-old in a tiny town in the California desert. Wiesner won for “Flotsam,” his wordless tale of a boy who finds an underwater camera at the beach and of the wonders that unfold when he develops the film it contains. Read more of this article from The Washington Post. Read about all of the literary award winners honored by the American Library Association.

Jack Prelutsky was recently named the first ever “Children’s Poet Laureate,” by the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation. It’s a title, complete with $25,000 cash prize and an inscribed medallion, he will hold for two years, a sort of blessed community service that compels him to give two major public readings and act as adviser, ambassador and pollinator of his art. Read more about Prelutsky in this story from CNN.

J.K. Rowling has announced that the title of the much-awaited final book in the Harry Potter series will be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. In a posting on her website on December 21, she wrote that she is "writing scenes that have been planned, in some cases, for a dozen years or even more." She added, "I am alternately elated and overwrought. I both want, and don't want, to finish this book (don't worry, I will.)"

For more information and an interactive game that leads you to the book title, visit J.K. Rowling's website.

From M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume I: The Pox Party to Tom Zoellner's The Heartless Stone: A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire, School Library Journal's Best Books 2006 list spotlights 67 titles offering something for young readers of all ages and tastes. For further information, visit the School Library Journal website.

M.T. Anderson has been named the winner of the 2006 National Book Award in the category of Young People's Literature for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume One: The Pox Party, published by Candlewick Press. For a complete list of winners, visit the National Book Foundation's website.

In honor of Children's Book Week 2006, which will be celebrated November 13-19, 18 children's book publishers and the Children's Book Council are donating 137,166 books to 31 nonprofit organizations across the United States. For ideas on celebrating Children's Book Week, visit the website of the Children's Book Council.

At the conclusion of its recent biennial congress in Macau, China, The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) announced several new initiatives to foster literacy and the love of books in all the world’s children. One of these is a new Fund for Children in Crisis, intended to support children in regions torn by war, civil disruption, or natural disaster. Another is an expanded Every Child’s Right to Become a Reader workshop program, intended to ensure that children everywhere have access to books of high quality written and produced in their own countries, as well as access to the best books from around the world. The workshops assist in training authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians, bibliotherapists, and teachers. For details visit the IBBY website at www.ibby.org.

In many schools, especially in urban systems, students are assigned books that are well beyond their reading levels. That can crush their motivation, says IRA Past President Richard Allington, quoted in an article by Valerie Strauss appearing in the October 24 issue of The Washington Post. The article also points out examples of youngsters being asked to read books with themes and language better suited to older students. For further information, read the full article.

Daniel Handler (better known as Lemony Snicket) has concluded "A Series of Unfortunate Events" with the publication of the 13th book, fittingly titled The End. The book, published by HarperCollins, comes out on October 13. The series has sold more than 50 million copies and spawned a major feature film. Read an interview with Handler conducted by Todd Leopold and posted on CNN.com

Monsters have been part of Maurice Sendak's repertoire for more than 40 years, and millions of children have enjoyed the monsters from his book Where the Wild Things Are, which won the Caldecott Medal in 1964. Sendak's latest project, Mommy?, set for publication in September by Scholastic/Michael di Capua Books, features three-dimensional monsters produced in collaboration with Arthur Yorinks and Matthew Reinhart.

An article by Sally Lodge in the August 24 issue of Children's Bookshelf from Publishers Weekly offers details about this innovative project.

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, scheduled for Thursday, August 24, is intended to be the largest shared reading experience ever. Tens of thousands of adults and young children will read The Little Engine That Could together in their homes, libraries, parent groups, preschool centers, and major public venues on August 24 to show support for early learning, to engage in the very practice that helps young children thrive, and to set a world record.

A special edition of The Little Engine That Could, published by Penguin and generously printed gratis by Pearson, will celebrate Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign and share with you important tips for making the most of reading time with young children. The custom limited edition of The Little Engine That Could is available exclusively at Starbucks from August 1–28.

For more information or to sign up as a participant, go to the Read for the Record website.

Once associated with teenage tastes, the book-length comics known as graphic novels now include biographies and other material offered by mainstream publishers. The trend is fueled by their increasing appeal for younger readers who enjoy their blend of visual and verbal.

The July 25th edition of the online version of the Christian Science Monitor offers reviews of new books by Kate DiCamillo, Megan Whalen Turner, Emily Arnold McCully, Tim Egan, Kevin Henkes, and a collection of classics that you won't want to forget about.

A children’s book that fails to paint a harsh picture of communist Cuba is at the heart of the latest battle between Cuban exiles in Miami and civil libertarians over cherished U.S. free-speech rights. The book, called Vamos a Cuba in Spanish and A Visit to Cuba in English, has been removed from elementary school libraries in the Miami-Dade County School District. The ACLU says the case is the first major legal battle over book censorship by a U.S. public school system since 1982. The story is carried by Reuters.

Publishing experts from several countries have converged in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, for a five-day workshop organized by Edition Bakame, a publication of children’s books in Rwanda. The workshop will promote the use of locally-published children’s books in the classroom and of reading in local languages and the mother tongue. Find more information at allAfrica.com.

J.K. Rowling recently hinted that certain of her characters, including Harry himself, could be goners in the next and last book of the Harry Potter series. And you have to take her seriously, because this is the lady who killed off Professor Dumbledore—or did she?

Sixty years and 1 billion copies later, Highlights for Children Inc. has taken more than just baby steps to reach two milestones. The Columbus, Ohio–based company opened its doors in 1946, and on Wednesday the billionth copy of the magazine aimed at children will be printed in Clarksville, Tenn., where it has been for 49 years. The story appears in Columbus Business First.

The truth is, Dawn Goldsmith adores children’s stories. She always has.

If you’ve ever been tempted to use a child as camouflage while browsing through the picture books in your local library, you’ll enjoy her essay in The Christian Science Monitor.

A bookseller says children and adolescents should be reading over the summer, but teachers should make an effort to choose books they'll enjoy, and tackle the more challenging reading when kids are back in school and teachers can help them appreciate it.

If you’ve ever thought about writing a children’s book, you’ll appreciate this unique approach to getting published. Read it, mostly, for fun!

In observance of US National Poetry Month in April, the Academy of American Poets will launch the first-ever Poetry Read-a-Thon. Geared for middle school students (grades 5–8), the Read-a-Thon’s goals are to celebrate the reading of poems and writing about poems. Find details at the Academy’s poets.org website.

Young People’s Poetry Week, April 10-16, 2006, is fast approaching. As part of National Poetry Month, Young People's Poetry Week is celebrated across the United States in schools, libraries, bookstores, and homes. The Children's Book Council (CBC) has resources to aid the celebration. These include a poster, bookmark, streamer, and more. The CBC also provides an extensive list of free resources for celebrating Young People’s Poetry Week. For further information, visit the CBC website.

A new joint US-Egyptian program will try to ensure that all of Egypt’s 38,000 public schools have well-stocked libraries of Arabic and English titles. The goal of this huge undertaking is to encourage children to read in a country where few have access to books and a quarter of adults are illiterate. Read more about the program in The Christian Science Monitor.

 I Can Make A Difference, cowritten by Marian Wright Edelman and Barry Moser, has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work — Children’s Book. Edelman will deliver the keynote address at the Third General Session of IRA’s 51st Annual Convention, on Wednesday, May 3, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

The 37th Annual NAACP Image Awards ceremony will tape February 25, 2006, and air March 3, 2006, on Fox at 8:00 p.m. For a complete list of nominees in all categories, go to the NAACP Image Award website.

Lynne Rae Perkins, author of Criss Cross, and Chris Raschka, illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window, are the 2006 winners of the John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott medals, the most prestigious awards in American children's literature. Perkins and Raschka were among the award winners announced January 23 by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), during the ALA midwinter meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

Criss Cross is published by Greenwillow, an imprint of HarperCollins. The Hello, Goodbye Window is published by Michael di Capua Books, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children.

For further information about the awards announced on January 23, visit the following area of the ALA website.

Writing—or at least in some general sense, authoring—a children's book seems to have an irresistible fascination for the world's more noted individuals, including John Gotti and Ed Koch. Now, a children's book has been produced by a person who could be viewed as the  world's biggest celebrity.

The Christian Science Monitor has a number of articles in its online version that will interest literacy professionals. Among them are a new teen novel, another on two new book series for young people, and a wrapup of good reads.

Just a reminder that the American Library Association's celebration of Banned Books Week runs from September 24 through October 1. For further information, visit the following ALA webpage.

Big Guy Books uses large doses of adventure and vivid graphics to create a book series for preteen boys tailored to their tastes and interests.

Quite apart from transforming his creator into one of Scotland’s wealthiest women, a certain teenage wizard has caused millions of children to spend less time on computer games and television and more time with books. New research by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups (FCBG), shows that J.K. Rowling’s storytelling in the Harry Potter series has had a major impact on literacy and reading habits in the UK. Read more in The Scotsman.

A newspaper columnist considers the problem of summer reading lists compiled by adults for their own purposes and comes up with a new list, presented in this NPR website article, that's composed of books recommended because kids might actually enjoy them.

You don't have to dumb it down to get kids reading, argue Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone in Deconstructing Penguins : Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading. A Christian Science Monitor review says the Goldstones offer effective ways to introduce kids to the idea of hidden meanings and other sophisticated pleasures a book can provide.

A collection of Norwegian fairy tales gathered by Asbjørnsen and Moe, first published in 1841, has brought great joy to Norwegian children ever since. This year, the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing produced the Chinese translation of the book, and UNICEF China agreed to distribute 2,500 copies to schools and schoolchildren in the underdeveloped western region. The plan calls for primary schools to develop Internet-based fairy tale discussion groups and share their experiences with other schools, as well as linking up with Norwegian schoolchildren. Learn more at China.org.cn.

Dysfunctional families, disturbed teenagers, suicide, pain, and loneliness — for the past two decades, adolescent literature has presented a bleak, often despairing, view of the world. But a new trend is emerging. Over the past few years, an increasing number of “novels of hope” have been published alongside, and even overtaking, the “hard-core realism” stories.

Read the article in The Age (Australia).

AIDS is probably the last subject that comes to mind when choosing a theme for a children’s book. But for Fatou Keita, whose latest book, A Tree for Lollie, features a young girl infected with the virus, there is nothing peculiar about it. Read more in IRIN News about a global crisis seen through the lens of a child’s experience.

A Washington Post editorial considers whether current trends in children's and young adults' literature are turning boys off from pleasure reading.

Cynthia Kadohata, author of Kira-Kira, and Kevin Henkes, illustrator and author of Kitten’s First Full Moon, are the 2005 winners of the John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott medals, the most prestigious awards in children’s literature in the United States. They were among the award winners announced on January 17 by the American Library Association (ALA) during its midwinter meeting in Boston. Considered the “Academy Awards” of children’s book publishing, the Newbery and Caldecott medals honor outstanding writing and illustration of works published in the United States during the previous year.

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The books come highly recommended. They have won the highest literary honors and earned the praise of the most respected educators. But as she watches her 12- and 7-year-old children sit down to read, author-educator Barbara Feinberg is surprised by the emotions she sees in their faces — not the eager anticipation she remembers feeling in her own childhood encounters with books, but apprehension, resignation, even dread. In this essay from the winter 2004 issue of American Educator, Feinberg explores a growing phenomenon in children’s literature, the “problem novel.”

You need a reason to care about what you read, and you need to have books at home, so one intervention program for at–risk kids takes them to a bookstore and pays for them to pick their own, says this Des Moines Register article.

Students in Des Moines, Iowa who are helping as choosers in the IRA–Children's Book Council collaborations Children's Choices and Young Adults's Choices are finding there are better books available and more reasons to read them than they used to think, according to a Des Moines Register article.

Some teachers and librarians argue that comic books and the more ambitious illustrated works known as "graphic novels" can help motivate disengaged readers and serve as a bridge to more traditional forms, according to this Christian Science Monitor article.

The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

What’s different about the books of Frank Hinks is that they are quite deliberately aimed at boys: there is almost no description and no analysis of what a character is thinking or feeling. Instead, the reader gets a fast-paced ping-pong of dialogue and plenty of stomach-churning action: falling into voids and steaming cauldrons are pretty much guaranteed.

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